Tendai Gukutikwa
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
BACK in 2017, Nichrut FC, a team based in the mining town of Shurugwi in Midlands Province, was promoted into the Premier Soccer League after winning the Central Region Division One title under the tutelage of John Nyikadzino.
This marked the first time a team from Shurugwi would compete in the top flight and apparently, as of now, it was the first and last.
Fast forward eight years later, Nyikadzino is again at the helm of a technical department of a team based in a town that has never known a resident Premiership team.
The team is Hunters FC, based in Marondera!
Marondera has never known a resident Premiership outfit as only visiting teams like Eagles FC have been using Rudhaka Stadium, in Marondera, as their home ground.
Hunters FC have already set the pace in the Eastern Region Division One League, where they are leading the log standings, and yet to taste defeat or draw in the five rounds of league matches played so far.
Nyiakdzino said: “I will say so far so good. I am happy with the progress so far.”
A man of few word, Nyikadzino said they are hoping to maintain the momentum and continue working as a team without placing attention on individual brilliance.
“We work as a team, and I will attribute this to team work. We hope to maintain the momentum, especially in the first round of matches,” said Nyikadzino.
The veteran gaffer is no stranger to Premiership promotion battles after taking Gweru-based Air Force of Zimbabwe outfit, Chapungu into the Promised Land in 2023.
He had also achieved the same feat with Nichrut in 2017.
Nyikadzino was also part of the Premiership promotion story for Sheasham in 2013, when the Midlands side recapitulated EPL outfit Arsenal’s feat of spending the season without tasting defeat – the well-known Invincibles.
Asked whether he is likely to replicate the season long unbeaten run, which he achieved with Shaesham in Division One, Nyikadzino said: “We treat our opponents with respect, so I will say, it is too early to judge any team.”
Who knows, just as the Biblical John the Baptist is known as the forerunner of Jesus, preparing the way for the Messiah by preaching and baptising in the Jordan River, Nyikadzino could be preparing Marondera for their first ever resident Premiership outfit.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Eastern Region Division One League, Rusitu Tigers FC coach, Johannes Nhumwa, was a relieved man after his side finally remembered how to win, beating Mutare City Rovers Football Club 1-0 in a Week Five encounter played at Ndima Stadium last Sunday.
The victory ended a four-match league winless run for Rusitu Tigers FC.
Not only did Rusitu Tigers FC manage a win, but they also ended their goal drought jinx after having gone four games without scoring.
ýIn another encounter, Masvingo United beat Buffaloes FC 1-0 in a tightly contested match at Mucheke Stadium, handing the visitors their first defeat in the Pacific Storm Eastern Region Soccer League. Aleck Chitumba’s precise shot in the 2nd minute proved to be the only goal of the match as Masvingo United held on to collect maximum points and move to sixth place with seven points in the latest standings.
Yuna Yuna still have two games in hand, and if they manage to collect maximum points, they might leapfrog Buffaloes on the log standings.
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